MARGAO
Fisheries Minister Avertano Furtado has set the stage for battle against the Congress for the Navelim Assembly seat in the 2017 Assembly election by accusing both former Chief Minister Luizinho Faleiro and former PWD Minister Churchill Alemao for their failure to resolve a 50-year-old issue of the beleaguered residents of Firgulem in Aquem-Baixo displaced since the time the military training camp was established at nearby Rawanfond.
“One was a former Chief Minister while the other was the PWD Minister. But both of them had failed to cap the issue by giving proprietary rights to the 50 displaced families. These families were made to run from pillar to post and were only dished out empty promises over the last many years,” Avertano said at a media briefing on Wednesday. Armed with a copy of the official gazette, Avertano said these 50 displaced families had been struggling for the ownership right of the land in question, but in vain. “When I was elected as the MLA in 2012, I took up the issue with then Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who after inspecting the land, promised to resolve it amicably. Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and Deputy Chief Minister Francis D’Souza also played their role in solving the issue by bringing in a Bill,” he said.
Showering praise on the Navelim MLA, the local residents led by Carlos Vaz said, “Luizinho was the MLA of Navelim for nearly 25 years, but he could not solve our case. So was Churchill Alemao, who only held meetings after meetings with officials, but left without resolving the issue.”
“Our houses were crumbling, but we were not allowed to repair them. With the government enacting the Goa (Allotment of Plots to Certain Displaced Persons) Act, 2016, we will now be able to carry out the repairs and construct new houses,” he stated.
